As the Cayman Islands picks up the pieces after Tropical Storm Grace, we have much to be thankful for.
While the storm flooded some neighbourhoods, uprooted trees, damaged properties and downed power lines, the sobering reality is that it could have been far worse.
Thankfully there were no deaths or serious injuries and – at least on initial assessment – the impact to homes and businesses appears to have been relatively minor.
In some ways, Grace served as both a test run and a wake-up call for our community.
It was a chance for our institutions to put their procedures and protocols into practice.
It was also a timely reminder that we all need to prepare for the possibility that the next storm could be much more severe.
The good news is that our emergency services, our government and our people passed this examination with flying colours.
Special credit must go the Caribbean Utilities Company crews who laboured in difficult conditions to restore power to almost every household in the Cayman Islands by the early hours of Thursday morning.
Thanks, too, to the workers from the National Roads Authority, the Department of Environmental Health, the Cayman Islands Regiment and the host of other agencies and volunteers that ensured the roads were clear and the danger from fallen trees and debris was limited.
The National Emergency Operations Centre, led by Hazard Management Cayman Islands, coordinated an efficient cross-government response that kept people safe and ensured the discomfort and inconvenience that inevitably come in the wake of a storm were kept to a minimum.
It can often seem as if there is much division in this community, but there were no signs of that Wednesday.
Instead, what we witnessed was people coming together to support and look out for each other – neighbours working in partnership to clear fallen trees, perform running repairs to homes or simply to ensure the most vulnerable (and the least prepared) had food and water.
It is that spirit of cooperation and kindness, along with the robust and well-drilled government response, that help keep Cayman safe through these events.
More of the same will be needed in the coming weeks as the full extent of the damage becomes clear.
The reality is that there are three more months of hurricane season left.
It is right that we celebrate the strength of our national response to this tropical storm. But any post-game analysis must also identify and highlight potential weaknesses.
On both a national and a personal level we must all take an honest look at our state of readiness and ask how we might have fared if this had been a more serious storm.
Climate science, bitter experience and the law of averages tells us that we need to be prepared for the possibility that the next direct hit could come from a Category 4 or 5 storm.
While we pray for the best, we must prepare for the worst and continue to look out for one another.
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